PDF

or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools; use tab to alternate between a composite mode for line/edge drawing and a number entry mode.)

Theme: XOXOXO (+ Antisymmetry)

Author/Opus: This is the 4th puzzle from guest contributor Nikolai Beluhov.

Rules: Divide the grid along the boundary lines so that every cell belongs to a snake. A snake is a one-cell-wide path at least two cells long that does not touch itself, not even diagonally. Circled cells must be at one of the ends of a snake. A snake may contain one circled cell, two circled cells, or no circled cells at all. Numbered cells must be part of a snake with a length of exactly that number of cells. A snake may contain one number, multiple identical numbers, or no numbers at all. Two snakes of the same length cannot touch each other horizontally or vertically. Cells with an X cannot be an end of a snake.

Also see this example:

Answer String: For each cell in the marked columns, enter the length of the snake it belongs to. Enter just the last digit for any two-digit number. This example has the key “33553,44664”.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 11:30, Master = 17:30, Expert = 35:00

Solution: PDF

Note: Follow this link for other Snake puzzles.

PDF

or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools)

Theme: Logical

Author/Opus: This is the 1st puzzle from guest contributor Fidel Zapico.

Rules: Standard Skyscrapers Rules. Additionally, each outside clue is also an “Easy as A, B, C” puzzle type clue, showing which digit of 2, 3, and 4 appears first in that direction in the row or column.

Answer String: Enter the 7th row from left to right, followed by a comma, followed by the 6th column from top to bottom.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 10:00, Master = 14:00, Expert = 28:00

Solution: PDF

Note: Follow this link for other classic Skyscrapers. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Skyscrapers to get started on. More Skyscrapers puzzles can be found in The Art of Puzzles.

PDF

or solve online using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools; use tab to alternate between a shading mode and a composite mode where left click + drag draws line segment and right click on cell edge adds an x.)

Theme: Logical

Author/Opus: This is the 11th puzzle from guest contributor Bryce Herdt.

Rules: Variation of Cross the Streams. Instead of the “no 2×2 shaded square” rule, in this hexagonal grid no 3 cells that share a point can be shaded. Also, the shaded region must be able to be split into tetrahexes to form a valid SLICY solution (meaning all tetrahexes are connected but no two tetrahexes sharing an edge are the same shape, including rotations and reflections).

Answer String: Enter the length in cells of each of the black segments from left to right for the marked rows, going in order from A to B to C to D and separating each entry with a comma.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 5:30, Master = 8:15, Expert = 16:30.

Solution: PDF

Note: Follow this link for variations of Cross the Streams and this link for other classic Cross the Streams. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Cross the Streams to get started on.

PDF

or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools; use tab to alternate between a shading mode and a composite mode where left click inside cell shades square, left click + drag draws line segment, right click inside cell adds dot, and right click on cell edge adds an x.)

Theme: Book Code? (The row clues hide the theme word “LITS”, but how?)

Author/Opus: This is the 10th puzzle from guest contributor Bryce Herdt.

Rules: Standard Cross the Streams rules. Also, the shaded region must be able to be split into tetrominoes to form a valid LITS solution (meaning all tetrominoes are connected but no two tetrominoes sharing an edge are the same shape, including rotations and reflections).

Answer String: Enter the length in cells of each of the black segments from top to bottom for the marked columns, going in order from A to B to C to D and separating each entry with a comma.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 7:00, Master = 10:30, Expert = 21:00.

Solution: PDF; a solution video is available here.

Note: Follow this link for variations of Cross the Streams and this link for other classic Cross the Streams. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Cross the Streams to get started on.

PDF

or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools)

Theme: Logical

Author/Opus: This is the 2nd puzzle from guest contributor Joseph Howard.

Rules: Standard Cross the Streams rules. Also, some sets of row/column clues have comparisons made to the left-most or upper-most ? clue. The value used for a ? clue must also be used for the remaining comparisons in that row/column (e.g., if ?, ?+2 the values could be 1, 3 or 2, 4 or 3, 5). ?= means a later clue has the same value as the first ?.

Answer String: Enter the length in cells of each of the black segments from top to bottom for the marked columns, going in order from A to B to C to D and separating each entry with a comma.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 7:30, Master = 12:00, Expert = 24:00.

Solution: PDF

Note: Follow this link for variations of Cross the Streams and this link for other classic Cross the Streams. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Cross the Streams to get started on.

PDF

or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools)

Theme: Hidden

Author/Opus: This is the 8th puzzle from guest contributor Walker Anderson.

Rules: Standard Kakuro Rules.

Answer String: Enter the values in each white cell in the marked row from left to right, followed by a comma, followed by the marked column from top to bottom.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 5:45, Master = 7:45, Expert = 15:30

Solution: PDF

Note: Follow this link for other Kakuro puzzles. More Kakuro puzzles can be found in Kakuro and Variations by Serkan Yürekli. Kakuro will also be featured in the upcoming The Art of Puzzles 2.

PDF

or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools; note that the dotted circles are just for answer entry and are where the number should be placed in the 2×2 cell. An alternate option with centralized digit entry is here.)

Theme: Clue Symmetry and Logic

Author/Opus: This is the 4th puzzle from guest contributor Dan Katz.

Rules: Variation of Kakuro. The gray (2×2) cells are to be filled by a single digit which sits in multiple rows and columns. No digits can repeat within an entry, regardless of if it is in a small or large cell.

Answer String: Enter the values in each white/gray cell in the marked row from left to right then the marked column from top to bottom, separating the groups with a comma.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 8:00, Master = 12:30, Expert = 25:00

Solution: PDF; a solution video is available here.

Note: Follow this link for other Kakuro puzzles. More Kakuro puzzles can be found in Kakuro and Variations by Serkan Yürekli. Kakuro will also be featured in the upcoming The Art of Puzzles 2.

PDF

or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools; use tab to alternate between a composite mode for line/edge drawing and a shading mode.)

Theme: Logical

Author/Opus: This is the 3rd puzzle from guest contributor Dan Katz.

Rules: Standard Spiral Galaxies rules.

[Copying the rules here as this is the first week: Divide the grid along the indicated lines into connected regions – “galaxies” – with rotational symmetry. Each cell must belong to one galaxy, and each galaxy must have exactly one circle at its center of rotational symmetry.]

Answer String: Enter the number of cells in each connected group (between bold lines) in the marked rows. Separate each row’s entry from the next with a comma. The example has the answer “2131,331”.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 1:20, Master = 2:30, Expert = 5:00

Solution: PDF

Note: Follow this link for classic Spiral Galaxies puzzles on this website and this link for variations on Spiral Galaxies puzzles. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Spiral Galaxies Puzzles to get started on. More Spiral Galaxies puzzles will soon be found in The Art of Puzzles 2.

PDF

or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools)

Theme: Clue Symmetry & Logic

Author/Opus: This is the 6th puzzle from guest contributor Jamie Hargrove.

Rules: Place each of the twelve pentominoes into the grid once, with rotations and reflections allowed. No two pentominoes can overlap or be orthogonally adjacent, and all cells not occupied by the pentominoes must be orthogonally connected. The black circles indicate some cells that must be covered by pentominoes. Some numbers and arrows are also given in the grid. For all numbers that are not covered by a pentomino, the clues give the exact count of shaded cells in the given direction. A shaded over clue may or may not be true.

Answer String: Enter the length in cells of each of the shaded segments from left to right for the marked rows, starting at the top. Separate each row’s entry from the next with a comma.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 10:30, Master = 17:15, Expert = 34:30

Solution: PDF

Note: Follow this link for other Statue Park Puzzles and this link for other less common Shading puzzles including Yajisan Kazusan puzzles.

PDF

or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools).

Theme: No 2×2 White Blocks

Author/Opus: This is the 5th puzzle from guest contributor Jamie Hargrove.

Rules: Shade some cells black so that all unshaded number and arrow clues indicate the exact count of shaded cells in the given direction. Shaded cells cannot share an edge, and all white cells must remain connected as part of a single contiguous group. It is allowed to shade over some of the numbered cells; a shaded over clue may or may not be true. Also, as an extra rule from standard Yajisan Kazusan, there cannot be any fully unshaded 2×2 cell blocks in the grid.

Answer String: For each row from top to bottom, enter the number of shaded cells as a single string.

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 5:00, Master = 12:00, Expert = 24:00

Solution: PDF

Note: Follow this link for other less common Shading puzzles.